Skip to main content
Log in

Touching epistemologies: meanings of average and variation in nursing practice

  • Published:
Educational Studies in Mathematics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We present a study of the meanings of average and variation displayed by paediatric nurses. We trace how these meanings shape, and are shaped by, nurses' interpretations of trends in patient and population data. We suggest a theoretical framework for making sense of the data which compares and contrasts nurses' epistemology with that of official mathematics. Finally, we outline some provisional didactical implications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abercrombie, M.L.J.: 1969, The Anatomy of Judgement: An Investigation into the Processes of Perception and Reasoning, Penguin, Harmondsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batanero, C., Godino, J.D., Vallecillos, A., Green, D.E. and Holmes, P.: 1994, ‘Errors and difficulties in understanding elementary statistical concepts’, International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 25(4), 527–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benner, P.: 1984, From Novice to Expert: Power and Excellence in Clinical Nursing Practice, Addison Wesley, Menlo Park, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, B.D., Blaxter, M., Buckle, A.L.J., et al.: 1987, The Health and Lifestyle Survey, Health Promotion Trust, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eraut, M.: 1994, Developing Professional Knowledge and Competence, Falmer Press, Brighton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishbein, E.: 1990, ‘Training teachers for teaching statistics’, in A. Hawkins (ed.), Training Teachers to Teach Statistics, ISI, Voorburg, The Netherlands, pp. 44–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald, A., Purdy, D.W. and Rich, K.M.: 1981, Mathematics in Employment (16–18), University of Bath.

  • Hall, R.: 1999, ‘Following mathematical practices in design-oriented work’, in C. Hoyles, C. Morgan and G. Woodhouse (eds.), Rethinking the Mathematics Curriculum, Falmer Press, London, pp. 29–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, M. (ed.): 1991, Schools, Mathematics and Work, Falmer Press, Brighton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoyles, C., Noss, R. and Pozzi, S.: 1999, Mathematising in practice, in C. Hoyles, C. Morgan and G. Woodhouse (eds.), Rethinking the Mathematics Curriculum, Falmer Press, London, pp. 48–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Slovic, R. and Tversky, A.: 1992, Judgement under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konold, C.: 1995, ‘Issues in assessing conceptual understanding in probability and statistics’, Journal of Statistics Education 3(1).

  • Lave, J., Murtaugh, M. and de la Rocha, O.: 1985, ‘The dialectic of arithmetic in grocery shopping’, in B. Rogoff and J. Lave (eds.), Everyday Cognition: Its Development in Social Context, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, pp. 67–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lave, J.: 1988, Cognition in Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mevarech, Z.: 1983, ‘A deep structure model of students' statistical misconceptions’, Educational Studies in Mathematics 14, 415–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mokros, J. and Russell, S.J.: 1995, ‘Children's concepts of average and representativeness’, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 26(1), 20–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noss, R. and Hoyles, C.: 1996a, ‘The visibility of meanings: modelling the mathematics of banking’, International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning 1(1), 3–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noss, R. and Hoyles, C.: 1996b, Windows on Mathematical Meanings: Learning cultures and computers, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nunes, T., Schliemann, A.D. and Carraher, D.W.: 1993, Street Mathematics and School Mathematics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollatsek, A., Lima, S. and Well, A.D.: 1981, ‘Concept or computation: students' understanding of the mean’, Educational Studies in Mathematics 12, 191–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pozzi, S., Noss, R. and Hoyles, C.: 1998, ‘Tools in practice, mathematics in use’, Educational Studies in Mathematics 36(2), 105–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, A. and Rosebery, A.S.: 1990, ‘Teachers' misunderstandings in statistical reasoning: evidence from a field test of innovative material’, in A. Hawkins (ed.), Training teachers to Teach Statistics, ISI, Voorburg, Netherlands, pp. 72–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saxe, G.B.: 1991, Culture and Cognitive Development: Studies in Mathematical Understanding, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, N.J.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schön, D.A.: 1983, The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, Temple Smith, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scribner, S.: 1985, ‘Studying working intelligence’, in B. Rogoff and J. Lave (eds.), Everyday Cognition: Its Development in Social Context Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, pp. 9–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaughnessy, J.M.: 1992, ‘Research in probability and statistics: reflections and directions’, in D.A. Grouws (ed.), Handbook of Research on Mathematics Teaching and Learning New York, Macmillan, pp. 465–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. and Douglas, L.: 1997, ‘Surveying the mathematical demands of manufacturing work: lessons for educators from the automotive industry’, in R. Hall and J. Smith (eds.), Session 10.39, AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.

  • Smith, J.P., diSessa, A. and Roschelle, J.: 1993, ‘Misconceptions reconceived: a constructivist analysis of knowledge in transition’, Journal of Learning Sciences 3(2), 115–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, A.: 1984, Practical Mathematics at Work: Learning through YTS (Research and Development Report No. 21), Manpower Services Commission, Sheffield, U.K.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Noss, R., Pozzi, S. & Hoyles, C. Touching epistemologies: meanings of average and variation in nursing practice. Educational Studies in Mathematics 40, 25–51 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003763812875

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003763812875

Navigation